A Republican Of A Different Cloth

Republican Establishment Should Take Note Of Minnesota GOP Congressional Candidate

November 26, 2013 by Sam Rolley

 9 1

 1 116

SPECIAL

It’s no secret that Americans are frustrated with the state of affairs in Washington, D.C., and with the career politicians who are responsible for Nation’s current condition. A growing number of Americans are also beginning to realize that changing Washington from the outside is going to be impossible as long as the political status quo is intact. The discontent is creating a new type of unlikely politicians, like Minnesota resident Stewart Mills, who could be the key to repairing the American political system.

Mills is the vice president of Mills Fleet Farms, a family business specializing in hunting and fishing gear — including many firearms high on gun grabbers’ list — who decided to run for Democratic Representative Rick Nolan’s Congressional seat in northern Minnesota to combat the incumbent’s gun control agenda. While Mills’ anti-gun control message is strong, he also hopes for a chance to push back against Obamacare, restore respect for the Constitution and protect American businesses, among other things.

The 41-year-old married father of five doesn’t look like the average politician. With shoulder-length hair and a casual style, Mills appears youthful and approachable and maintains a conservative political agenda that is very different from that of both the establishment Republican and Democratic parties.

In an interview with MinnPost, Mills said his decision to run for office was based on the “hunting camp doctrine”: Because he found himself complaining about the way government operates, he’s responsible for helping to find a solution to the problem.

Mills defines the four pillars of his campaign as follows:

The first pillar is … Obamacare.

The other was a Main Street tax policy that was from the ground up. The 8th District is a Main Street economy, and I don’t believe that Washington D.C. creates jobs. If we’re going to create and sustain the jobs that our part of Minnesota needs, it’s going to be coming from Main Street businesses, from the ground up, businesses that are taxed at the personal level. If we want a sustainable economy, we have to look toward our Main Street businesses because the 8th District is not a place of big corporations.

Respect for the Constitution is my third pillar. Certainly I’m a hunter, I’m somebody who uses firearms recreationally, I’m a shooter, I shoot competitively, that is my golf. I know how guns work. I know that one gun is not morally superior or inferior to the next, and I also have read the Constitution, I believe that we should uphold and abide by the Constitution.

Finally my fourth pillar is our national debt. $17 trillion is way too much. But the very fact that we keep kicking the can down the road and adding to our debt is endangering the future of our nation and our children’s future. We are passing on along to them a fiscal mess. Part of my hunting camp doctrine I’m running underneath is when you go to hunting camp or you go to a campsite in our part of Minnesota, there’s usually a sign that says leave it better than when you found it. I believe that we should do that.

The candidate, a former libertarian, told local media that the disastrous policies of the Barack Obama Administration combined with the ongoing partisan gridlock in Washington could create the perfect storm of support for a candidate who is a non-traditional Republican.

“This is the year, with what our country is facing, in which people are, Democrats in particular, are going to be taking a very hard look at somebody who may not be a traditional Republican,” he said. “I believe that I can reach the conservative Democrats and some of the people who have just always voted Democrat year after year, and I can win them over.

“My current campaign strategy isn’t getting a large turnout from Republicans and conservatives to overwhelm the Democrats, my current campaign strategy is to reach out to traditionally Democratic voters who care about things such as the future and sustainability of our country, who care about our Constitution, not limited to, but certainly inclusive of, the Second Amendment.”

Learn more about Mills here.